Research team
Expertise
Dr. Sergio Araujo is currently a postdoc in the Laboratory of Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene (LMPH) at UAntwerp and has a distinguished track working with infectious diseases. Up to date he has participated in 14 papers published in internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals (5 of those as first author), including the paper entitled “Molecular evidence for the aerial route of infection of Mycobacterium leprae and the role of asymptomatic carriers in the persistence of leprosy” published in the prestigious journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, which also warranted an editorial commentary in the same journal. He started his post-graduate research trajectory in 2010 when he joined a Master’s degree program in Health Sciences, and obtained his doctorate in the same program by 2016. During his doctorate he also did a 1-year research secondment at the Laboratory Research Branch of the National Hansen's Disease Programs (NHDP) of the United States of America (USA), to develop a molecular drug susceptibility test for the identification of drug resistance in leprosy. After obtaining his PhD, he has held 3 positions as postdoctoral scientist with projects on different scopes (stem-cell regenerative medicine, fungi pulmonary host-pathogen interactions, and vaccine immunology and development), two of them in Brazil (one at a university and the other at a public health research institution), and one at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, USA.
Throwing immunity off the scent of the invasion: the role of olfactory ensheating glia in airway infection.
Abstract
This BOF-SRG project aims to support my independent research line, exploring host-pathogen interactions and unraveling pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the intracellular invasion of the olfactory network by understudied neurotropic infectious agents of various aetiologies, that have been found to infect the upper respiratory tract and cause neuropathological manifestations. Currently, as a senior postdoc at the Laboratory of Microbiology, Parasitology, and Hygiene (LMPH), I am leveraging my extensive experience on Hansen's Disease (HD) to investigate the causative pathogen of HD, Mycobacterium leprae. My research in the field of HD has been internationally recognized, and I have published four first-author papers on HD, including two fundamental studies that have shifted the paradigm on the infection mechanism: one unveiling asymptomatic carriage of bacilli in the nose with a potential role in the chain of transmission; and the other on the aerial route as the predominant mode of infection and transmission. The evidence of nasal mucosa infection and high incidence of olfactory dysfunction in HD, as well as the knowledge gap regarding the cellular mechanisms of infection, warrant further investigation. My hypothesis is that M. leprae can infect olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) and this unexplored niche can be an undisclosed route for the initial invasion of nerve tissues, play a role in immune evasion, and contribute to the colonization of nasal mucosa and the persistence of chronic infection. The development of this project will increase our understanding of this debilitating disease and shed light on the unknown mechanisms by which it can evade immune responses, colonize nerve tissues, and develop chronic disease. It will also provide the cornerstone for establishing an international partnership with research groups in the Global South (Brazil) working on HD and other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In the short term, I also plan to explore the infection of OECs by other neurotropic parasitic, viral, and bacterial pathogens under investigation at LMPH, such as Leishmania, RSV, and Streptococcus, which can also invade and damage the PNS and/or use the olfactory pathway as a route of entry into the CNS. In the middle term, I envisage investigating co-infections with pathogens of different aetiologies in the established infection model of OECs. In the long term and beyond infectious diseases, this project will open opportunities for collaboration on regenerative medicine studies, as the use of OECs is also a promising strategy for neuroprotection and the regeneration of neural tissues.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Araujo Sergio
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project